‘Polite antisemitism’ — EU sanctions right-wing Israeli NGOs

Israel’s deputy Foreign Minister say new EU sanctions unfairly target right-wing nonprofits and political opponents.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior Israeli official condemned new sanctions imposed by the European Union on Israeli nonprofits, arguing that the measures disproportionately target organizations affiliated with the political right.

“We are witnessing a deeply troubling trend where traditional antisemitism has simply put on a new, socially acceptable mask: anti-Zionism,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told Fox News Digital.

“Where prejudice once targeted the individual Jew, it is now directed at the collective Jewish state and our fundamental right to live in our ancestral homeland. But make no mistake, the political targeting of Israel always bleeds into an assault on Jewish life itself,” she added.

Among the groups sanctioned by the EU was Regavim, an Israeli NGO that the bloc accused of supporting “settler violence” and being complicit in “serious human rights abuses against Palestinians.”

Regavim rejects those allegations, saying its mission is to document and challenge violations of Israeli law in Judea and Samaria, including illegal Arab construction in areas under Israeli jurisdiction.

“We pointed out that the EU and the Palestinian Authority are simply violating the law in a very purposeful, systematic way to take control of Area C using structures like schools, sometimes mosques, and homes of innocent people that they push into those areas,” Naomi Kahn, Regavim’s international director, told Fox News Digital.

“When we point out the absurdity of the situation, they don’t like it,” Kahn continued.

Kahn said the sanctions were particularly troubling because they target an organization for its political views rather than any unlawful activity.

“The European Union is trying to control the internal political system and policies of an independent state that is supposed to be an ally,” she added.

Haskel echoed Kahn’s criticism, arguing that the sanctions are politically motivated.

“The real target here is not violence, but legitimate political opposition. The sanctioned organizations do not support violent action; rather, they have consistently challenged the concept of a two-state solution and exposed how the EU actively builds illegal structures in Judea and Samaria,” Haskel stressed.